Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 103 Part 3.djvu/928

 103 STAT. 2996 PROCLAMATION 5942—MAR. 17, 1989 and community groups across the country have come to count on the generosity and active involvement of Federal employees. Those individuals dedicated to serving our country as employees of the Federal Government deserve our respect, gratitude, and recognition. Accordingly, by House Joint Resolution 22, the Congress has designated the week beginning March 6, 1989, as "Federal Employees Recognition Week" and authorized and requested the President to issue a procla- mation in observance of this week. NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE BUSH, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim the week beginning March 6, 1989, as Federal Employees Recognition Week. I call upon the people of the United States to observe this occasion with appropriate ceremonies and activities, in recognition of the skillful and loyal service provided the Republic by employees of the Federal Government. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this eighth day of March, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and eighty-nine, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hun- dred and thirteenth. ' ' GEORGE BUSH Proclamation 5942 of March 17, 1989 National Day of Prayer, 1989 By the President of the United States of America A Proclamation Throughout our Nation's hiistory, Americans have been a prayerful people, giving thanks to our Creator for the blessings of liberty and seeking His help and guidance in preserving them. Those who braved the long ocean journey from Europe to first settle in the American colonies were men and women of varied, but equally devout, religious beliefs. Many had been persecuted for those beliefs at home, and tiiey sought a new land where they might be able to worship freely. Years later, our forefathers would clearly remember this and begin our Bill of Rights with the guarantee that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." But it was not just the experience of their ancestors that led the Found- ing Fathers to shape a free and democratic government for our Nation. On the confrary, their view of the rights of man and the proper role of government were derived from their firm faith in God. They believed that all men are created equal, "endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights." Any system of government they established must guarantee individual liberty and equality before the law, for freedom is the God-given right of all men. Calling for daily prayer at the Constitu- tional Convention, a number of delegates expressed their conviction that only with divine guidance would the new democracy be true and successfrd. "If a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice," observed Benjamin Franklin, "is it probable that an empire can rise

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